Ted Eccles Movies
- 1977
Quincy (Jack Klugman) and Sam (Robert Ito) are summoned to the small Arizona town of Porterville, where a mysterious disease has sent several local citizens to the hospital. The source of the disease remains a mystery until Quincy finds a correlation between the human epidemic and and malady that is decimating the livestock of tyrannical cattle baron Jack Porter (Guy Stockwell). This episode was originally scheduled to air on December 2, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
- Add Eleanor and Franklin: The Early Years to QueueAdd Eleanor and Franklin: The Early Years to top of Queue
The winner of 11 Emmy awards, the made-for-TV Eleanor and Franklin stars Edward Herrmann as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Jane Alexander as Eleanor Roosevelt. The film traces the first four decades of the lives of cousins Franklin and Eleanor, beginning with their marriage in 1905. Conflicts loom in the form of FDR's domineering mother (Rosemary Murphy) and Eleanor's discovery of an affair between her husband and artist Lucy Mercer (Linda Kelsey). After Franklin is stricken by polio in 1921, Eleanor emerges as a formidable and influential public figure. James Costigan wrote the teleplay for Eleanor and Franklin, which first aired as a two-parter on January 11 and 12, 1976. The film was followed several months later by a multipart sequel, Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Herrmann, Jane Alexander, (more)
- 1974
Rummaging through a second-hand purse which she has purchased in anticipation of going to a dance with John-Boy's friend Mike (Ted Eccles), Mary Ellen (Judy Norton-Taylor) finds a valuable ring. Allowing vanity to get the better of her, Mary Ellen decides to wear the ring to the dance, even as its previous owner Mrs. Breckenride (Adrienne Marden) announces that the ring is missing. A crisis ensues when our heroine loses the ring somewhere in the school gym--necessitating a nocturnal "burglary" involving two of the Walton kids. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1974
"Bad" Ronald (Scott Jacoby) has been in hiding in a secret room ever since going off the deep end and killing a teenaged girl who'd made fun of him. Ronald's mother (Kim Hunter) helps her son to remain hidden, even when the house in which he is sequestered is rented by a family. As luck would have it, three of the family members are nubile young girls--perfect targets for the lonely, and looney, Ronald. In the original John Holbrook Vance novel on which this TV-movie is based, Ronald abducts, repeatedly rapes and ultimately kills two women. The video version of Bad Ronald is heavily laundered, but no less terrifying. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Scott Jacoby, Pippa Scott, (more)
- 1974
Everything that can go wrong does go wrong as John-Boy (Richard Thomas) begins his freshman year at Boatwright College in the fall of 1934. Our hero unwittingly breaks long-standing rules, upsets protocol, misplaces important documents, and finds himself the victim of innumerable practical jokes perpetrated by the snobbish (and monumentally immature!) upper classmen. And back on Walton's Mountain, the younger Walton kids are none too pleased as Jason (Jon Walmsley) presumptively takes over the "big brother" role in John-Boy's absence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1972
- PG
The exciting world of rodeo provides the framework for this western saga that centers around a temperamental bronc rider who tries prove himself worthy of his wife, son, and his best friend's respect. He also wants to keep his freedom. Songs include: "Easy Made for Lovin," "My Special Day," "I'm a Rodeo Cowboy." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Coburn, Lois Nettleton, (more)
- 1970
- PG
Have you ever longed for the day when James Brown, Martha Raye, and Col. Harland Sanders would appear in a movie together? Well, that's barely the tip of the improbable casting iceberg in this bizarre cold-war spoof. The leaders of the American intelligence organization the S.S.A. ("Super Secret Agency") are becoming increasingly alarmed by the disappearance of a number of B-list celebrities, who are being spirited off to Communist Albania. Eager to bring the fading stars back to the Land of the Free, the S.S.A. come up with a simple plan: They'll find four typical guys in their mid-twenties, have them form a rock group, make them into international stars, and wait until they get invited to play a gig in Albania, which will allow them to find out what's become of Rudy Vallee, Butterfly McQueen, and Huntz Hall, among others. Unemployed philosopher Michael A. Miller, Native-American honor student Ray Chippeway, phys-ed major Dennis Larden, and male model Lonny Stevens are drafted by the S.S.A., and after some intensive training by experts (Trini Lopez shows them a few guitar chords, and Richard Pryor gives them a crash course in soul), they become an overnight sensation as The Phynx (yes, it's pronounced "Finks"). Their album sells 17 million copies on the strength of songs like "What Is Your Sign?," and their groupies have to be cleared away by forklift. But fun and games have to go to the back burner when Albanian ruler Markevitch (George Tobias) and his wife, Ruby (Joan Blondell), invite the Phynx to perform at the behest of their son. Pat O'Brien, Xavier Cugat, Patty Andrews, and Dick Clark are just a few of the other notables who make cameo appearances in The Phynx, which had a very brief theatrical release before being sold to television in the early '70s. Legendary songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller penned the songs performed by The Phynx (and Stoller composed the background score), though for some reason they're not covered nearly as often as "Jailhouse Rock," "Hound Dog," or "Yakkety Yak." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Miller, Ray Chippeway, (more)
- 1970
This made-for-TV movie stars Herschel Bernardi as a middle-aged widower, contentedly resigned to his bachelorhood. Bernardi's well-meaning friends and relatives are tireless in their efforts to hitch him up with a new bride. All the candidates are played by prominent actresses (Shirley Jones, Tina Louise, June Lockhart et. al.); few of them are compatible with poor Mr. Bernardi. The bemused bachelor is determined to remain unmarried until he meets a lovely widow who is similarly indisposed to matrimony. Under the directorial guidance of Jerry Paris, But I Don't Want to Get Married rolls along with TV-sitcom efficiency. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Thirteen-year old Teddy Eccles is a devotee of Thoreau, as most everybody else was in 1969. Eccles decides to spend a one-year sabbatical in the Canadian woods. His immediate companion is his pet raccoon; his spiritual companion is idealistic librarian Chris Wiggins, who supplies Eccles with books on survival. Reality intrudes when another of Eccles' kindred spirits, a falcon, is killed by insensitive hunters. But the boy survives this disillusionment with the help of Wiggins and wandering-troubadour Theodore Bikel. My Side of the Mountain is a refreshingly non-condescending adaptation of the novel by Jean Craighead George. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Eccles, Theodore Bikel, (more)
The perennial Yuletide animated classic The Little Drummer Boy gets a new look on home video with this release. Actually, the program itself will be familiar to those who watch it every December; only the packaging has changed. This moving story, about a poor boy who can offer no gift to the baby Jesus other than his song, will entertain and inspire the entire family. The soundtrack was recorded by the Vienna Boys Choir. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- José Ferrer
- 1967
Teddy Eccles guest stars as Mr. Drysdale's precocious 11-year-old nephew, Milby. While visiting the Clampett mansion, the money-grubbing Milby spends his time assessing the family's valuable antiques and rare artwork. He also manages to divest the Clampetts of their precious belongings, hoping to cash in on them himself. But Jed and all his kin prove to be more than a match for Master Milby. "The Little Monster" first aired on April 12, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Richard Brooks wrote and directed this stark black-and-white (with brilliantly evocative cinematography by Conrad Hall) study of two drifters who murder a family, based on Truman Capote's non-fiction novel In Cold Blood. The film takes place in Holcomb, Kansas, where four members of the Herbert Clutter family are roused from their sleep and brutally murdered. The killers, Perry Smith (Robert Blake) and Dick Hickock (Scott Wilson), are two ex-cons who plan to rob the Clutters of $10,000 kept in a safe in their home. But Dick and Perry find no safe and no $10,000 and end up leaving the murder scene with only $43. The police, led by Alvin Dewey (John Forsythe) of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, try to track down the killers. Meanwhile, Dick and Perry take off to Mexico, where Perry has fantasies of prospecting for gold. But when his dreams of prospecting come to naught, Dick insists that they return to the United States. Confident that they have left no clues, they cash bad checks, and the police track them down in Las Vegas. During questioning, their alibis are broken when they are separated and tell conflicting stories. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, (more)
- 1965
Jimmy Garrett makes his final series appearance as Jerry Carmichael in this episode. Hoping to get her son Jerry to come to California for Christmas at the least possible cost, Lucy arranges for Jerry's entire military-academy class to sing carols at Mr. Mooney's bank. Carried away by the Yuletide spirit (and despite his anger over Lucy's recent spending sprees), Mooney (Gale Gordon) himself agrees to sing bass with the youngsters, who fortuitously are portrayed by the real-life St. Charles Catholic Boys Choir. The episode's best line, involving "the little town of Bethlehem," affords Gale Gordon a choice opportunity to pull off one of those blustery double takes that he did so well. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lloyd Corrigan, Ted Eccles, (more)
- 1964
In his efforts to save enough money so that Eddie (Butch Patrick) can attend college, mortuary employee Herman (Fred Gwynne) moonlights as a pro wrestler called "The Masked Marvel." Alas, it looks as though Herman's grappling career will net him only a world of hurt: the big lug is too soft-hearted to try to defeat his formidable opponents. Several authentic wrestlers appear in this episode, including Count Billy Varga, The Great John L, Jay York, Matt Murphy and Gene LeBell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Too vain to wear glasses, Lucy (Lucille Ball) purchases a pair of contact lenses, which have a propensity for popping out at the wrong time. Sure enough, Lucy loses one of the contacts while icing a chocolate cake for a bank charity sale. Convinced that the cake in question has been purchased by the wife of banker Mr. Mooney, Lucy and Viv (Vivian Vance) grab a substitute cake and sneak off for a nocturnal switcheroo at the Mooney home. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Eccles
- 1963
This was the first film directed by dancer and choreographer Gower Champion, already experienced at directing television and theatrical productions by the early '60s. The routine romantic comedy, somewhat bogged down by the children it features, is centered on overwrought actress Janice Courtney (Debbie Reynolds). She has had it with paparazzi and publicity campaigns and escapes to the Connecticut countryside for a little R & R. At that point, a half-dozen youngsters intrude into her life after they are abandoned by their ne'er-do-well guardians, and though she is anything but enthusiastic, Janice takes them under her frayed wings. The local pastor, Rev. Jim Larkin (Cliff Robertson) has something to do with that, and ultimately, more than a little something to do with Janice's personal life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Debbie Reynolds, Cliff Robertson, (more)
- 1962
Several subplots are woven into this episode. The Beverly Hills police look askance at Granny's backyard still and Elly May's menagerie of "critters." The Clampetts decide to pay a visit to their Beverly Hills neighbors, unaware that its Halloween. And back in the Ozarks, Cousin Pearl has set her cap for oil executive Mr. Brewster. The scene in which the terrified suburbanite sees Jethro's "mask" is a riot. "Trick or Treat" first aired on October 31, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
